US approves first gene therapy for cancer

MIAMI: The United States approved the first gene therapy in the nation on Wednesday — a treatment that uses a patient's own immune cells to fight leukaemia — opening a new era in the fight against cancer.

The treatment is made by Novartis and is called Kymriah, (tisagenlecleucel). This type of immunotherapy, known as a CAR-T cell therapy, was known by CTL019 until now.

It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for children and young adult patients up to age 25 with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

The FDA described the approval as "a historic action" that would usher "in a new approach to the treatment of cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases," said a statement.

Studies have shown that 83% of patients responded to the treatment, achieving remission within three months.

The treatment is not a pill or a form of chemotherapy.

It uses a patient's own immune cells, called T-cells, along with white blood cells.

These cells are removed from a patient, sent to a lab, and encoded with a viral vector, reprogrammed, and returned to the patient. — AFP